Family Secrets
by NewensFictionLove
Summary: Sabra Jennings had spent most of her life taking care of her mother after the loss of her father. Seth was a young Quileute boy, living in the shadow of his older sister and boys of the tribe, trying to prove his own worth. Neither of them had ever considered knowing someone like the other... until the day that fate stepped in


Sabra Jennings was fourteen years old, and the apple of her mom's eye. She had been taking care of her mother for the past two years... ever since the older woman had been diagnosed with cancer and could no longer do a lot of things for herself. The previous year, the two of them had gone before a judge and gotten Sabra what was known as a hardship license, meaning that Sabra was legally able to drive so that she could get her mom to and from treatments or go to the grocery store or anything else that the two of them needed. She sighed as she turned another page in her history book, attempting to get a little ahead of the rest of the class. She did her best to keep as far up in her studies as she could on the chance that her mom went through a bad spell that needed her to take time off from her classes.

Tasha Jennings hung up the telephone and walked into Sabra's bedroom. "That was your Uncle Charlie, sweetheart. Bella's in the hospital in Phoenix. She got in a fight with Edward and took off, and when he and his father went to bring her back to Forks she stormed out of their hotel room and fell down a couple of flights of stairs."

Sabra sat up, closing her book, her eyes wide. "Is she okay?"

Tasha nodded. "She's going to be in a walking cast for a while, and she has a concussion, but Renee said she's already awake and insisting on going back to Forks instead of out to Florida with her and Phil."

Sabra rolled her eyes. "She always has been stubborn. I thought she hated Forks?" She had never understood why her cousin hated their parents' hometown so much. She had always loved going to visit Uncle Charlie during spring break and for a month in the summers. The small town was a welcome change for her from the craziness of Philadelphia, the bustling city her dad was from.

Even after her husband had died in a shoot out when Sabra was nine, trying to arrest a couple of gang members, Tasha had made the decision to remain in Philadelphia. She had worked two jobs to ensure that Sabra had everything she needed, refusing her brother's pleas to "come home" so he could "take care of them". She had been determined to show Charlie, and everyone else, that she was capable of taking care of herself and her daughter. She didn't need to rely on anyone else.

When Tasha had gotten sick, Sabra had stepped up with the same backbone her mother possessed. At the age of twelve, she had started babysitting, running a newspaper route, walking dogs... anything and everything she could to make money and help out. Between the two of them, they managed to maintain their small two bedroom home.

But now that Tasha was getting worse, it was getting harder. Sabra was just ending up her eighth grade year of school and would be a freshman the coming fall. Sabra was having to take more and more time off of school to take care of her mother, and what little spare time she had was taken up by working... and it was wearing her out. She didn't know how much longer she was going to be able to keep up with everything.

Tasha put her pale, thin, hand on Sabra's shoulder. "You're cousin is one of the most accident prone people I have ever seen, Sab. She's survived worse than this. Don't worry."

Sabra nodded, silently making a decision that would hopefully get her at least some temporary help in caring for her mother. She looked up into her mother's sunken eyes, eyes that shone brighter than usual because of the dark circles surrounding them. "Mom? I've got spring break coming up this week... I can get us to Forks by Monday. Can we please go visit them?" She took a deep breath, revealing another reason she wanted to go. "This would be a great opportunity to finally get Dr. Cullen to take a look at your case. Uncle Charlie is always talking about how he's the best."

Tasha sighed, looking down into her daughter's eyes. She had never been able to deny her little girl anything. "I don't know, baby girl. You've never driven that much by yourself before, and I can't drive any more at all."

Sabra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Mom. I've been driving for two years. I can get us to Forks."


End file.
